Ol’ School Optimus

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Hasbro recently re-released Generation I Optimus Prime as part of their 25th Anniversary for Transformers. By coincidence, I was recently looking at my Optimus Prime from when I was a kid. I forget the exact age I was when I first had it, but it’s been well over two decades. My girlfriend’s son Patrick received the “new” 25 Anniversary Optimus for his birthday. It’s basically an exact replica, although the colours are a little lighter, and there’s a few minor detail that were changed. For instance, the original has longer smokestacks sticking up from it’s shoulders. The problem with those is that they broke off easier. That’s one of my problems with the toy.
Optimus is the most recognizable Transformer, as well as the “leader” of the Autobots. Also, he’s a bitchin’ truck. Because of these factors, every kid past-and-present wants him. Problem was: he’s quite breakable. It’s an issue that’s been addressed with more modern Transformers, who have been designed to have parts that will break off if enough force is applied, but these parts can snap back into place. With Ol’ School Optimus, if it breaks, it’s broken. I broke the hatch off his trailer within weeks of owning. Also, his legs are held steady by springs, which will loosen if used too many times. After that, he won’t be able to stand independently.
That’s just the first of it’s problems. Optimus has small parts that are easily lost. That doesn’t matter so much with most toys, but Optimus’s hands detach as part of his transformation. If you lose those, you have a handless Optimus. Not exactly the biggest threat to Megatron.
Thirdly, he has stickers. A lot of toys in the 80’s had stickers that had to be applied, possibly because they were too cheap to pay the Chinese slave labourers to do it properly. That means you have to put them on yourself. Tear one, or put one on a little crooked, and that great looking toy you had is now a piece of garbage. You’re going to see your inadequate handiwork every time you play with it. Plus it loses it’s collector’s value even further.
Another thing is: it’s confusing. Not so much in regards to the transforming, but the accessories. The trailer turns into a mobile command base. That’s fine, only it’s not an Optimus sized base. It’s designed for tiny little men. If you’re considering the scale of things, these supposed men would be too small to drive Optimus as a truck. If there were actual toys for these men, they would be about a cm tall. There’s no men, though, despite all evidence there should be. There’s even a cockpit hatch that opens to reveal a pilot’s seat. No pilot, though. Why would Optimus haul around this trailer command base for humans when there’s no humans on Cybertron? In fact, there’s no humans at all. Is he sentimental? Is it a Field of Dreams situation where he hopes having the trailer will bring the humans back?
Another thing: weird holes. Optimus has unusual orifices. The trailer has two holes in the sides. Plus Optimus’s body has holes in his headlights where his hands are supposed to fit, and another below his head on the roof of the truck.